1. Did Trebond participate much in the Scanran War? In Afta Alanna mentions that Trebond deals with Scanran bandits most years – were Coram and Rispah heavily involved in the war too?

Tammy: They served as a supply depot and hospital, for one. Jonthair fought as a knight; Alinna rode with the Queen’s Ladies,* helping Thayet keep the rest of the realm in order; Thomsen was squire to Emeric of Legann,** serving near the City of the Gods, and Mylec was with the Queen’s Riders, near Frasrlund. Daran, Liam, and Thayine worked as scouts. Coram is too old for combat or scouting, so he coordinated supplies and housed troops coming through while Rispah worked in the hospital. Is that heavily involved enough for you?

2. How did the Scanran war end? After Kel got rid of the Killing Devices, was it just a series of battles when the Tortallans bit-by-bit kept on winning and killing the Scanrans, or was there one huge battle where they smashed them?

Tammy: It’s nearly impossible to stage a huge, set-piece battle in mountain country–there are too many places to hide, and no clear lines of sight that extend far enough to do any good. No, the fighting piddled out over the next two years, a skirmish here, a clash there. Killing Blaise just got rid of the killing devices. It ended finally in the spring of 464.

3. In Trickster’s Choice you say that Alanna wields the Crown’s authority when neither Jon or Thayet are present, and you’ve said on Sheroes that her job basically means that she’s either fighting bandits or is by the King’s side 24/7. What does the King’s Champion actually do?

Tammy: When a serious issue of law comes up somewhere, something that must be settled in that place, by the monarchs, and neither of them can go, they send the Champion, who is permitted to speak the Crown’s justice. This is pretty rare, but it does happen. If Alanna is present at a quarrel of some kind where people refuse to take the matter to court, or if they can’t afford to take it to court and they don’t want a village court to decide, they can agree to accept the Champion’s ruling. This is less rare. Most often, a noble will be brought to court on a matter of law, and that noble will insist on trial under the original laws of that kingdom, as is every noble’s right. It’s a risk, because everyone knows Jonathan wants everyone to rely on the courts of law and their judgment. Under the original law, the defendant’s guilt or innocence can be revealed in trial by combat. The defendant chooses his or her champion, while the Crown is always represented by the King’s Champion. (This is where Alanna being glued to the king most of the time comes in.)

This choice is not as common as it once was. In the beginning of Jon and Thayet’s reign, every noble with a grievance big enough to give them combat as an option chose it, because they were convinced the stories about Alanna were inflated and they would beat her handily. After six deaths, Jon, Alanna, and Thayet sat down and worked out something else. Now Alanna maims her opponent, and the requests for trial by combat fell by three-quarters from those first four years. Apparently being handicapped for life is not nearly so romantic, or noble, as dying in combat.

Does she also involve herself in politics – convincing nobles and priests and merchants to agree to certain laws that Jon and Thayet want?

Tammy: I was just informed, very firmly, she does not. According to her, that sort of nonsense is for people who care to waste their lives gabbling like hens.

Or is she just Jon’s slave? :P,

Tammy: I won’t pass that on, if it’s all the same. I have to live here, too.

4. How old was Duke Gareth when Gary was born? Does Gary have any siblings?

Tammy: No, Gary’s an only child–his father married Roanna of Irimor when he was in his 40s, having spent most of his time until then soldiering.

5. How old was Roald (Jon’s dad) when he inherited the throne? and how old was he when Jon was born? Did Lianne have problems with fertility, or was Jon’s birth so bad that she was told she can’t have any more children?,

Tammy: Roald was 26 when he married Lianne, 19; Roald was 31 when Lianne had Jon. Lianne had problems with fertility and a couple of miscarriages, then her pregnancy was so rough, and she had so many health problems, that she was advised not to try again. She did anyway when Jon was three, because she knew her duty, but she nearly died, and after that she couldn’t get pregnant again. That child was stillborn.

6. do the Bazhir still think that the Burning Brightly One and the Night One destroyed the ysandir, or have they accepted it was their Voice and the Woman Who Rides Like a Man?

Tammy: They have no problem at all with believing that the Voice and the Woman could not be both.

NOTES FROM Words of Tamora Pierce
*In an earlier post at Random Buzz, Alinna was a member of the Queen’s Riders, not the Queen’s Ladies.
**In an earlier post at Random Buzz, Thomsen was a knight who served in the King’s Own, not a squire serving a knight master.